1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary and sealed connection for pressurized fluids, for connecting a first element, e.g., a pressurized fluid source, and a second element, such as an apparatus using said fluid, mounted for relative rotation about a shaft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A pressurized rotatable sealed connection is often used for supplying a rotary platform with all kinds of fluids. For example, an infrared detection turret provided with a cooling system may be fed with a gaseous fluid, such as nitrogen, or argon, from a fixed reservoir through a connection of the above type.
A connection of the this type is already known, as described in the French application No. 2 538 875. In this connection, in order to obtain a good sealing without rapid wear of the seal and of the surface of the second part in contact with this seal, this latter is made from a relatively flexible and elastic material.
Furthermore, the width of the annular space between the second part and the passage cannot be less than a limit value depending in particular on the quality of the mechanical coupling making possible the relative rotation of the first and second parts.
Under these conditions, there is then a risk of extrusion of the relatively flexible seal into the annular space when the pressure difference on each side of the seal is very high, and to eliminate this risk a relatively rigid and anti-extrusion ring must be provided.
The presence of the anti-extrusion ring, which in particular requires the provision of means urging the annular part of the flexible seal against the second part, as well as an O seal, appreciably complicates the connection and the mounting and operation thereof.